The Conquer

By Ian Timm

Before;
Patriotic, Synagogs, Mutual Respect.
After;
Camps, Ghettos, 438,000 Jews Burned.
Restriction, World-Class hatred.
Auschwitz
4 Crematoriums, 24 hours a day.
Inhumanity, day after day.
Tests were often performed
Unknown solutions in peoples eyes,
Kept some alive.
Where is God?
Jews became the prey,
The Nazi's became the predator.
My Siblings were taken,
Possessions and everything I knew.
Why should I survive?
What do I have to live for?
It's almost Shabbat.
Sadism, Cruelty, killing Jews.
Final Solution.
Close to total Emaciation of the Jews.


For my found poem I decided to document the happenings of the Holocaust in the order that it happened. In the movie Last Day's and the book Maus by Art Speigelman the antisemitism and hatred towards the Jewish population came extremely quickly, almost "overnight." I tried to depict this in my poem beginning with how the Jewish in Germany lived; Proud, Outgoing about their religion, and respected as an equal among the community. After the Nazi Regime gained power, their antisemitic ideals spread like wildfire and would change the way the Jewish population lived forever. Jew's of all ages were; ripped from their homes, publicly humiliated, abused, killed, and tortured all because of their religion; Judaism. After this I tried to explain the mass extermination of the Jewish population in camps like Auschwitz and liquidation of entire towns all in a few weeks. I then went on to explain how some of the persons in the camp kept their heads up and hoped for the best. They used their religion, the same thing that got themselves into this mess would prove to get some out alive. Together the Jewish people would pray for the best and keep up high hopes by making menorah's and celebrating key holidays; like Shabbat.